A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO INFORM RECOVERY DECISIONS OF THE ANTILLEAN MANATEE IN PUERTO RICO

Ashton Drew, Louise Alexander, Jaime Collazo

Two Joint Projects:

1. Revise the Recovery Plan (1986) for the Puerto Rican population of Antillean manatee

2. Identify a suite of potential Manatee Protection Areas for Puerto Rico

USFWS Strategic Habitat Conservation projects must be science-based and

support adaptive management

“Open Standards” Approach Framework to guide

conservation planningComplements USFWS

management approachLanguage for elicitationMiradi software to

assemble elicitation results

Defines clear targets and methods to achieve targets

Conservation Measures Partnership (2007)Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation

http://www.conservationmeasures.org

Term Open Standards Definition

Target • specific species, ecological systems/habitats, or ecological processes around which a project is focused

Scope • the thematic focus or geographic area of a project

Vision • the desired state or condition, which if achieved, would also signify success

Conservation Target• Antillean

manatees in Puerto Rico

Term Open Standards Definition

Key ecological attributes

• the biological characteristics of or elements required by a target central to its success

Threats • an anthropogenic activity that may cause the destruction, degradation, and/or impairment of target

Opportunities • factors which can alleviate a threat

Term Open Standards DefinitionConceptual diagram

• a network representation of causal relationships between targets, key ecological attributes, threats, and opportunities

Results chain • a pathway from action to target detailing expected intermediate and final outcomes with timeline and measures of success

• Requires site specific knowledge, details change with site• Objectives, metrics, timeline would be part of Recovery

Plan process

Manage Watercraft to Reduce Take

Entire Population

Scope • the coastal shelf and estuarine waters of Puerto Rico excluding Mona, Monito, Desecheo Islands, and the US Virgin Islands

Vision • the long term conservation and recovery of the endangered Antillean Manatee and its habitats in coastal-shelf and estuarine waters in Puerto Rico

Recovery Plan

Entire Population Population Within MPAs

Scope • the coastal shelf and estuarine waters of Puerto Rico excluding Mona, Monito, Desecheo Islands, and the US Virgin Islands

• an area providing access to seagrass, sheltered waters, and freshwater within a 5 km radius where an MPA would reduce take

Vision • the long term conservation and recovery of the endangered Antillean Manatee and its habitats in coastal-shelf and estuarine waters in Puerto Rico

• the prevention of anthropogenic take, harassment, and disturbance of manatees within an area that provides high quality habitat

Recovery Plan MPA Strategy

Recovery Plan

Key Ecological Attributes Seagrass Freshwater Shelter

Threats Land-based

contaminants Oil spills Entanglement Poaching Motorized

Watercraft Etc…

Marine Protected Area components

Key Ecological Attributes Seagrass Freshwater Shelter

Threats Land-based

contaminants Oil spills Entanglement Poaching Motorized

Watercraft Etc…

KEA & Threat Modeling: Seagrass

A. Map of presence within the scope

B. Value of the resource as availability within 5km radius

Shelter

WatercraftFreshwater

Seagrass

MPA Value

Why a structured, expert-based approach?

Whole-system perspective of conceptual diagramStrategic decisionsWhat can and cannot be controlled

Guidance to merge data from diverse sourcesDefined objectives and scale

Mechanistic with assumptions & hypothesesAccommodates changePromotes adaptive learning

Acknowledgements

Experts: R. Armstrong, B. Bonde, A. Dieppa, D. Flemming, M. García, C. Gonzáles, N. Jimenez, A. Mignucci-Giannoni, E. Muñiz, E. Nieves, F. Pérez, C. Pacheco, M. Rivera, R. Rosario, G. Rodríguez, J. Saliva, M. Vargas, V. Vicente, and J. Zegarra

CoPIs for MPA models: J. Reid, D. Slone Research Assistant: K. Henderson Funding: USFWS & USGS